Business and Finance – Mesquite Energy Fair

Business and Finance, Mesquite Energy Fair

Charlie Goessman is bringing what may be one of the most exciting show-and-tell exhibits at the Mesquite Energy Fair, on May 9.

Goessman, who works for TriForce Mechanical Contractors in Mesquite, is bringing a trailer outfitted with a solar photovoltaic system and an energy-efficient “Coolerado” air conditioning unit.

The coupling will demonstrate the reality of solar-powered air conditioning. The solar photovoltaic system will contain four panels, enough to power the Coolerado C60, a six-ton air conditioning unit capable of efficiently cooling 3,000 square feet and 20 people.

“We’ll have the trailer here Friday and get training for it and then have it available for people to see at the energy fair,” Goessman said.

The energy fair will be held 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the CasaBlanca Showroom.

The Coolerado air conditioning system is 10 times more efficient than traditional air conditioning units, according to information presented on the Coolerado website at www.coolerado.com. The Coolerado C60 unit uses 600 watts of power (the equivalent of six 100-watt light bulbs) to cool the same space as traditional air conditioning systems using 6,000 watts of power.

Coolerado systems use an indirect evaporative cooling process utilizing a new thermodynamic cycle called the Maisotsenko Cycle, or M-Cycle. Outside air is drawn into the air conditioner by a fan. The air is cleaned by an array of two-inch-thick filters before entering Coolerado’s patented heat and mass exchange. About 40 percent of the air entering the heat and mass exchange becomes saturated with water and is rejected outdoors. That air carries heat energy removed from the conditioned air. The other half of the air entering the heat and mass exchange is cooled without the addition of humidity and is ducted into a home or business.

Compare that to evaporative, or swamp, coolers that blast unfiltered, wet air into a building, said Rick Gillan, vice-president of Coolerado. It’s high-volume, high-humidity with dust and mold.

Gillan said Coolerado units use water to cool the air instead of chemical refrigerants. Dust and allergens are filtered at the beginning of the process, and the air is cooled incrementally through the 13-stage M-Cycle.

A Coolerado unit demonstration showed 150-degree air from a heater drawn into the air conditioning system. Conditioned air was nearly 100 degrees cooler.

“The air temperature on a roof out here is 150 degrees.” Goessman said. “The Coolerado system takes in that 150-degree air and the air comes out at 54 degrees.”

At the heart of the system is the heat and mass exchanger that economically takes advantage of the M-Cycle. The exchanger consists of several plates of a special plastic that is designed to wick water evenly on one side and transfer heat through the other side. Plates are attacked on each other, separated by channel guides.

The channel guides provide structure to the heat and mass exchanger and direct air movement within the exchanger. The guides divide the incoming air stream into “product air” (conditioned air) and working air. The product air is always separate from the working air and stays within dry channels through the entire length of the exchanger. The product air is cooled sensibly, cooled without humidity, rejecting its heat and heat energy into the working air in the wet channels through evaporation. Hot air is exhausted out the sides of the heat and mass exchanger and into the atmosphere.

The process is repeated multiple times in a short physical space within the exchanger, resulting in progressively colder “product” and “working” air temperatures.

The indirect evaporative cooling method works like a car radiator, transferring heat outside without hot liquid escaping or hot air getting in.

Customers who have purchased Coolerado air conditioners report that the air coming into their homes is “more comfortable.” Coolerado won the second annual Excellence in Renewable Energy Award from Governor Bill Ritter.